Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

“Trash Talk” - Rethinking The Notion Of Waste, Shivaangi Salhotra

Student Showcase

In the twenty-first century, waste has become a ubiquitous problem. Images of things like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch have ceased to become jarring, and pictures of overflowing landfills and statistics about plastic in the ocean have become so commonplace that they are “memed”. Yet despite increasing awareness and changes in policy, global waste production and its deleterious effects continue to rise. Dominant narratives surrounding waste tend to focus on how individuals can properly dispose of their waste, which, while certainly important, is not the full story. It doesn't question why we produce so much waste in the first place, …

The Role Of Vegetative Cover In Enhancing Resilience To Climate Change And Improving Public Health, Anastasia D. Ivanova

Masters Theses

Changing temperature and precipitation patterns are causing degraded soil, water, and air quality which is negatively affecting the safety and health of people, and the productivity of urban and rural communities. However, research shows that implementing urban forests and cover crops into urban and rural landscapes, respectively, can mitigate these effects by providing ecosystem services. As extreme precipitation and heat events continue to intensify, there is a need for comprehensively assessing these ecosystem services under changing climates and for this information to be easily accessible by communities for rapid land-use decision making. Therefore, I investigated the role of urban forests …

Why Massachusetts’ Drought Management Task Force Should Be In Statute: Drought Management Across The United States, Thomas G. Coughlin, Gabby Queenan

Student Showcase

This report explores structures and statutory authorities of Drought Management Task Forces across the United States, and particularly how different states have approached the issue of managing their respective Task Forces. There is growing interest in drought planning in the United States and worldwide.

As Massachusetts considers how to best respond to a new climate norm of short-term extreme droughts, one aspect of drought planning that is undergoing additional review is the role of the Massachusetts Drought Management Task Force, the state entity responsible for analyzing and reporting on drought conditions to the Secretary of Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs …

The Cosmic Web, And The Role Of Environment In Galaxy Evolution, Ryan Cybulski

Doctoral Dissertations

The Universe, on extra-galactic scales, is composed of a vast network of structures dubbed the “cosmic web”. One of the most fundamental discoveries about the evolution of galaxies is that their properties have a dependence on their location relative to this cosmic web (i.e., their environment). However, detailed studies of the environmental dependence on galaxy evolution have been extremely challenging due to the inherent complexity of the structures on the largest scales, a plethora of techniques being used to try to map the cosmic web, and other confounding factors, such as the masses of galaxies, that also affect their evolution. …

Growing Our Vision Together: Forming A Sustainability Community Within The American Library Association, Beth Filar Williams, Madeleine K. Charney, Bonnie Smith

University Libraries Publication Series

As long-standing keepers of democracy and information stewardship, library professionals are a natural fit for advocating and promoting sustainability within their communities. From seed libraries to Occupy Wall Street libraries, their view of sustainability extends beyond environmental concerns to include community activism, economic development, and social equity. Empowering people, facilitating dialogue, and providing resources for a more resilient future are at the center of librarians’ vital and changing roles. These visionary professionals have powered libraries’ work as outspoken advocates with well-founded initiatives. For a long time, however, there was no cohesive sustainability-focused venue for sharing best practices, collaborating, and contributing …

Dusty Star Formation In Extreme Environments: Galaxies And Galaxy Clusters In The Distant Universe, Stacey Alberts

Doctoral Dissertations

In this thesis, we present a comprehensive study of the dust-obscured star formation (SF) activity in galaxy clusters out to high redshift using infrared (IR) imaging. Using hundreds of galaxy clusters and wide-field far-IR imaging across nine square degrees, we quantify the average star formation rates (SFRs) out to the distant Universe for mass-limited cluster galaxy samples using stacking. We compare the evolution of this SF activity to field galaxies, finding that the evolution in clusters occurs more rapidly than in the field and clusters have field-like SF approximately nine billion years ago, during an epoch before SF quenching becomes …

Recent Advances In Understanding Antarctic Climate Evolution, Martin J. Siegert, Peter Barrett, Robert M. Deconto, Robert Dunbar, Colm O. Cofaigh, Sandra Passchier, Tim Naish

Robert M DeConto

Geological evidence shows that the ice sheet and climate in Antarctica has changed considerably since the onset of glaciation around 34 million years ago. By analysing this evidence, important information concerning processes responsible for ice sheet growth and decay can be determined, which is vital for appreciating future changes in Antarctica. Geological records are diverse and their analyses require a variety of techniques. They are, however, essential for the establishment of hypotheses regarding past Antarctic changes. Numerical models of ice and climate are useful for testing such hypotheses, and in recent years there have been several advances in our knowledge …